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Sidebar to Casa Jackson: Nutrition packages and clean water

Jeff and Kaylen Jackson are promoting two new projects related to nutrition and clean water during their volunteer service at Casa Jackson.

Clean Water

Jeff Jackson is working with the Eco Filters Project, in which water filters are given to families enrolled in the God’s Child Project.

“Many of these families live in extremely poor conditions,” he said. “They have dirt floors and bamboo or corrugated tin walls. Many have running water, a “luxury” of living close to Antigua, but usually this water is only available one to three times per week, only at night and it is not potable.”

To save water, parents fill up 55-gallon tanks overnight. This water sits in the open air for days and is used for laundry, bathing, cooking and drinking.

“Our goal is to provide clean water and eliminate parasites, viruses and bacteria that cause malnutrition and illnesses,” he said.

Through a $5,000 donation, hundreds of families deemed high priority have already received water filters.

“There are still roughly 200 families waiting to receive filters that were not deemed high-priority,” he said. “Additional monies will be used to expand the program so all new homes that are built and all new families that are admitted to the project will receive water filters.”

Nutritional packages

Kaylen is working on a project titled “Nutritional Packages for Expecting and Nursing Mothers.”

“This is a new project for the mothers of the God’s Child Project in the Antigua, Guatemala, area that focuses on improving the nutrition of pregnant and nursing mothers,” Kaylen said.

“It was brought to our attention that many children are permanently stunted both mentally and physically because of poor nutrition during their mother’s pregnancy and their early childhood,” she said.

This project will be a bi-weekly distribution of prenatal vitamins and critical foods to improve the health of mothers during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The program will cost roughly $400 to $600 per month indefinitely, she said.

“We are trying to find sponsors for monthly donations as well as meeting our annual goals each year,” Kaylen added.

Send donations to www.gcpstore.com or by calling the God’s Child Project office at 701-255-7956.